


We Love Each Other! (Platonically...?)

by brunetteandblond



Series: Moving On [5]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Domestic, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 07:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16697872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunetteandblond/pseuds/brunetteandblond
Summary: Alice learns that most of her classmates' parents are married. So, inevitably, she wonders why her parents aren't. She asks Wynonna and Nicole why they aren't married... and they have some explaining to do.(Wynonna wonders if maybe she and Nicole should get married).Part 5 of the Moving On series, but can stand alone as a one-shot! It takes place when Alice is five (before Waverly and Doc come home)





	We Love Each Other! (Platonically...?)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fauchevalent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fauchevalent/gifts).



Alice was confused. Frazzled. Utterly puzzled. She couldn’t understand why everyone suddenly started talking about their parents in Elementary School. Kindergarten was a huge adjustment. Not because of the actual ‘schooling’ or ‘learning’ (Alice was always intelligent) but it had changed socially. In Preschool, nobody cared who everyone’s parents were, what kind of money they had, or what their home life was like. And now… people wouldn’t shut up about it.

“My mom’s a surgeon!” One kid bragged and puffed out his chest like his parent’s occupation made him better than the others.

Other kids shouted over each other in a match of ‘whose parent has the cooler job.’

Alice rolled her eyes at the stupidity (she learned that from her parents). She couldn’t believe that her best friend at school (her real best friend was Henry, but he didn't go to school with her), Josiah, joined in on the conversation. But he didn’t boast about his parents. He boasted about Alice’s.

“Alice’s parents are both cops!” Josiah yelled and crossed his arms like he won the verbal argument.

The Earp child glared at her friend and felt overwhelmed by all the questions that came from the other students. She tried to ignore what they were saying, but she couldn’t miss this one comment that made her feel… angry.

This kid, Ricky, turned to his friend and said, “Can you believe, her parents aren’t married? But then again, they are both girls.”

She hadn’t thought about it before. She never felt self-conscious about her family. They were her favorite people ever, what could she complain about? Things were happy and warm and she loved her parents. They weren’t typical, no. But that didn’t seem to matter… until now.

Alice couldn’t shrug the thought out of her head. She didn’t understand why her parents weren’t married. They did love each other (okay, maybe they didn’t kiss each other, but still). She was annoyed that her parents seemed to have skipped a step. She was told that parents were supposed to be married, so why weren’t hers? 

* * *

Her mom was a bad cook. And her dad wasn’t much better. So they either ate easy things that could be made without any talent or someone brought home takeout. Tonight was unusual in that her mom made pasta (and it wasn’t under or overcooked).

She picked at her food without eating much of it. She listened to her parents complain about a man that they had both arrested that day. She normally loved listening to her parents’ stories, but tonight, she wasn’t in a good mood. The comment still bothered her. And she needed to know why her parents were different than everyone else’s.

Interrupting her parents’ conversation, Alice asked, “Why aren’t you guys married?”

Her parents gaped at her and dropped their food on their plate. They turned to look at each other, both speechless.

“What are you talking about, kiddo?” Her dad asked the young girl.

Alice became red and looked down, afraid to look her parents in the eye. “All the people at my school, their parents are married, or at least were married. Why haven’t you guys?”

Her mom bit her lip and sighed. “Baby girl, you know that this family isn’t like other families. Your dad and I aren’t married because we don’t… our love…” She didn’t know what to say. She was stuck.

When Nicole saw Alice’s horror-stricken reaction, she added, “Your mom doesn’t mean that we don’t love each other, Alice. But there are two different kinds of love. There’s loving someone like a sister, best friend, or family member, like me and your mom. And there’s love that is romantic, like your Uncles. Your Uncle Robin and Uncle Jeremy are married because they are in love with each other, which is different than me and your mom. But just because we aren’t married doesn’t mean we aren’t your parents. That doesn’t matter to us. And it shouldn’t matter to you, either. Because we love you.”

Alice tried to take in everything that her dad said. She was starting to comprehend. “You mean like how I wouldn’t marry Henry even though I love him.”

Her mom laughed and nodded. “Yeah, kid. Just like that. Not all parents are married. And that’s okay. I know it can be hard to feel out of the ordinary. But you always have to remember how much we love you, even though we are not a couple.”

Alice nodded and smiled at her parents. She knew how much they loved her. She didn’t need convincing of that. She never would need to be convinced of that. 

* * *

As Alice did her one page of homework in the living room, Wynonna and Nicole dried the dishes in the kitchen, both still a little startled by the conversation they just had with their daughter.

Wynonna lowered her voice so that her daughter couldn’t hear and muttered, “She might have a point, Haught.”

Nicole stared at her with an incredulous look. “What? About us getting married? People already think that we’re a couple as it is. We shouldn’t get married just because it’s more socially acceptable--”

“That’s not--” Wynonna said with a groan. She put down a cup and felt tears gloss over her eyes. “That’s not what I mean. I don’t care about that shit. You know I don’t, Haught. It’s just--” She stopped, not knowing how to explain the thoughts that were crowding and controlling her head. She had been thinking about this for a while now. She just didn’t know how to explain it out loud. She felt vulnerable even thinking about it.

The Sheriff watched the brunette with concern. She put her plate down and sat down at the table, hoping that Wynonna would do the same.

The deputy wiped her eyes and sat down next to Nicole. She avoided the redhead’s line of sight, though. As comfortable as she had gotten with the woman, she was still Wynonna Earp. She was still emotionally fucked up.

Shakily, Wynonna whispered, “I’ve been thinking about what would happen to Alice if I died.”

Nicole flinched. “Oh, Wyn--”

“No, I’m not trying to be dark or morbid or anything,” Wynonna interrupted. “I’m trying to be realistic. I’m not talking about demons or anything. I’m talking about the daily chances of dying. I don’t-- we know that you are Alice’s other parent. But no papers say that.”

The redhead nodded, understanding what the brunette was saying. “I get that, Earp. But I’m sure that she’d go to Gus. And Gus would make sure--”

“But what if she didn’t!” Wynonna yelled, her voice cracking. She could tell that Nicole was confused and so she explained, “What if something messed up? What if she had to go to foster care? I can’t-- I can’t let that happen, Nicole.”

The sheriff grabbed Wynonna’s hand and squeezed it. She had no idea that Wynonna was even concerned about this. She had heard Waverly reference once or twice how the brunette had to stay in foster homes once in a while. But she never had any details. It wasn’t like the ex-Heir talked about her past.

Wynonna let out a shaky laugh. “I know how stupid it sounds for me to want to get married just because of that. But I won’t let it happen to her, Haught. I’d prefer we get married rather than the chance of Alice having to spend a night in one of those shitholes. It changes you, Haught. It changed _me._ ”

Nicole scooted her chair closer to her best friend. She cupped her friend’s red cheeks and pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Not stupid, Earp. I understand why you’d want to do anything to prevent that from happening to our daughter. I can’t even fathom what you went through. And I swear to you, I will make sure that if something happened to you, I would not let her get taken away. I will take her and run to Mexico before I let anyone take her away. I would do anything to make sure that didn't happen, okay?"

Wynonna nodded, but still seemed uncertain. 

Nicole felt guilty that she wasn't reassuring the brunette. "The thing is, Wynonna, marriage is a giant step. A step I’m not sure I want to take. Not because of you... I'm sure you'd be a great wife. But... it's because of… of Waverly.”

The brunette cursed herself. “Fuck, Nicole. I didn’t even-- Of course. When you want to get married, you want to marry a different Earp. I should’ve-- I’m being so selfish.”

Nicole laughed and shook her head. “No, Wynonna. You’re being the opposite. You’d actually marry _me_ to ensure your child’s happiness. That’s selfless.”

Wynonna snickered and replied, “You’re acting like I find you incredibly irritating or something. For your information, I think we’d be a great married couple.”

The other woman snorted and murmured, “Maybe in another lifetime.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please review if you can! If you liked this, go read my other one-shots. They're pretty cool.
> 
> Ooh, and if you have any other comments or if you have any suggestions/requests, you can message me in tumblr @haught-n-cold-gay
> 
> I'd love to hear from you!


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